The Farmers Daughter: Piggies!!!!

I guess I should start with a little back story. When Nic and I met he was raising some Club Lambs for his niece and another boy. I noticed from the start his deep love of animals. I to share that deep love. Growing up we had beef cows. I loved helping feed the cows. When dad would buy bred cows most of the time they were wild wanted nothing to do with people. I would make it my goal to tame down those animals and help them realize were went bad. Sense the time that we have been together Nic and I have had a few different kinds of animals. We started with the 4-H lambs. From there we went to chickens. I started us both back in to the bottle calf business in August of 2012 and kept going to the auctions every week coming home with a few every Wednesday. On October 27th 2012 Nic and I were married. For a wedding present someone bought us 2 65lb feeder pigs. Not long after we raised those pigs up and butchered them Nic got at job for at one of the largest hog farms in the United States. From day one he was in love. His job was to tend to the pigs all 65,000 of them. He took so much pride in that job. A new job with better pay and benefits came along and Nic did what was best for his family. For 4 months Nic and I didn't have any animals except our dogs Bear and Gabby. I started going down hill depression wise in a bad fast way. We moved in with my parents in August of 2014. Not even a week had passed when by chance we ran into the guy who gave us those first 2 hogs. I took it as a sign. After talking with the man a few days later we were set to pick up three 45lb feeder pigs in four days. Well in those four short days I had to convince first dad that the pigs are a good idea and will help me with my depression. Then I had to convince Nic who missed his hogs more than anything that this was a good idea and we could make it work. My next problem was where were these animals going to go they needed a home. A home those three pigs got. I turned the holding pin for the milking parlor into a hog pin. first cleaning it out. That was a task it was filled with things form the previous owner of the property and some of dads junk. After I got it all cleaned out I took hog panels are went around the entire pen. I had some great help my cousin Matt came and helped and brought his step son Brian. Now at ten that kid was a worker.

The three Piggies had lots of room. I had no idea in 6 short months we would go from 3 hogs to 80. I knew when I built the pin that it was capable of houseing alot of pigs. After the group of three piggies we found six more groups with at least nine pigs a piece in them. The second group of hogs were Spot hogs.

We picked these pigs straight off there mama. They only weighed about 12lbs each. These were some fancy hogs. Group 3 were just some run of the mill white hogs (I call them pink becasue thats what color they really are but to be proper there concidered white hogs.) In this group came Wilma she loves having her snout scratched. This group is also Gracies brothers and sisters. Gracie weighed maybe 5lbs when she came here. Her siblings weighed 12lbs we also got them straight off there mama.

Our third group is a hog I have never really seen before. They are Black Hogs crossed with a hereford. The hereford hogs are just like the herford cows red and white. I am guessing the blacks have stronger traights. There is no red on these hogs what so ever. Really theres not even any white on them as well.

Group 4 are Hampshires there is one piggie in this group that I love. She is so ugly shes cute. Her snout is black and her tail is black the rest of her is all white. Her siblings are a good mix of black and white.

Group 5 and group 6 came from a family up north. Sense we purchesed these pigs the son and dad have came down and baught a few gilts from us. Gilts are female pigs that have never had a litter. Boars are non castrated males. Barrows are casterated males and Sows are females pigs that have had babies. They are going to use the gilts to breed to there boar. The gestation on pigs is 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days.